Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The agriculture sector emerged as a firm pillar of the economy last year, settinga series of new records despite global market downturn.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoancommended the entire sector for its tremendous efforts during a period ofunprecedented economic challenges. He declared 2023 the year of extraordinary achievements in agricultural exports, highlighted by a historicpeak in rice exports at nearly 8.3 million tonnes, accompanied by record-highgrain prices globally.
Fruitsand vegetables also marked a significant breakthrough, generating an all-high revenueof nearly 5.7 billion USD. Notably, various fruit-bearing plants commanded highselling prices, translating into substantial gains for farmers.
Apivotal accomplishment in 2023 was the sector's record-breaking trade surplus,soaring to 12.7 billion USD, reflecting a noteworthy increase of 43.7%. Six keycommodity groups, namely rice, fruits and vegetables, coffee, cashew nuts,shrimp, and wood and wooden furniture, recorded export turnovers exceeding 3billion USD.
Hoan reported the establishment of 1,400 new enterprises in thesector in the past year, bringing the total to over 16,100, up 7.3%annually.
Beyond the efforts of small- and medium-sized enterprises, majorcorporations continued to bolster their investments in agriculture,particularly in high-tech one. The overall growth in the sector reachedits highest level in the last five years, sustaining growth across all domainswhile ensuring food security and major balances of the economy, and contributingto macroeconomic stability, he said.
Yetanother "first time" accomplishment was the quality control ofnearly 90% of planted forest areas, with the sale of 10.3 million forest carboncredits at a rate of 5 USD per tonne. This unprecedented movegenerated a substantial revenue of 51.5 million USD for the forestry industry.
Looking ahead, the sector has set ambitious goals, aiming for agrowth rate of 3-3.5% and export revenue of around 54-55 billion USD,surpassing that in the previous year by 1-2 billion USD./.
